McGruder bids farewell to 'Boondocks'

By GREG BRAXTONLos Angeles Times

April 6, 2014 12:01 AM

By GREG BRAXTONLos Angeles Times

April 6, 2014 12:01 AM

Aaron McGruder, creator of "The Boondocks," poses for photos before taking part in the New York Times' TimesTalks: Special Edition conversations, at the 5th Annual New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend, Saturday, January 7, 2006 in New York. (Henny Ray Abrams/AP Photos)AP

Aaron McGruder, creator of "The Boondocks" comic strip and animated series, has finally weighed in on his exit from the show, saying an emotional goodbye to his edgy characters just a few weeks before the April 21 launch of the fourth and final season of the series on Adult Swim.

His comments come a week after Sony Pictures Television, which produces the animated series about 10-year-old black militant Huey Freeman and his gangsta-wanna-be younger brother Riley living in the suburbs with their grandfather, said in a press release that the upcoming season "was produced without the involvement of Aaron McGruder, when a mutually agreeable production schedule could not be determined."

"As the world now knows, 'The Boondocks' will return for a fourth season, but I will not return with it," McGruder said. "I'd like to extend my gratitude to Sony and Adult Swim for three great seasons.

"I created 'The Boondocks' two decades ago in college, did the daily comic for six years and was show runner on the animated series for the first three seasons," McGruder said.

"'The Boondocks' pretty much represents my life's work to this point. Huey, Riley and Granddad are not just property to me. They are my fictional blood relatives. Nothing is more painful than to leave them behind.

"But to quote a great white man, 'Hollywood is a business.' And to quote another great white man, 'Don't hold grudges.'

"What has never been lost on me is the enormous responsibility that came with 'The Boondocks' -- particularly the television show and its relatively young audience. It was important to offend, but equally important to offend for the right reasons. For three seasons I personally navigated this show through the minefields of controversy.

"It was not perfect. And it definitely was not quick. But it was always done with a keen sense of duty, history, culture and love. Anything less would have been unacceptable."